KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — Malaysia’s ringgit was set for the biggest advance among Asian currencies this week amid the fastest economic growth in a year. India’s rupee extended gains after the clearest election verdict in three decades.

Southeast Asia’s third-biggest economy expanded 6.2 per cent in the first quarter, while the inflation rate eased in April from the highest level in almost three years, reports over the past week showed. Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won India’s first single-party majority since 1984 in national elections, spurring optimism the new government will introduce reforms to spur economic growth.

Malaysia’s economic and inflation data are “painting quite a strong domestic backdrop,” said Jonathan Cavenagh, a Singapore-based currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. “In India, it’s been a carry-on from the election euphoria.”

The ringgit advanced 0.7 per cent for the week to 3.2112 per dollar as of 12:28 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The rupee strengthened 0.5 per cent in a fourth weekly gain, the longest stretch since February 2013, to 58.48.

The Philippine peso and Taiwan dollar also gained this week, while the remaining six of Asia’s 10 most-active currencies fell or were little changed. The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index dropped 0.1 per cent to 116.01.

Malaysia swaps

Malaysian gross domestic product rose 6.2 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, beating the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey for a 5.7 per cent increase, official data showed May 16. Consumer prices climbed 3.4 per cent in April, slowing from 3.5 per cent in March and February, the quickest pace since June 2011, according to a May 21 report.

One-year interest-rate swaps climbed one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 3.62 per cent this week, indicating investors expect the central bank to increase the benchmark overnight policy rate from 3 per cent.

India’s BJP won 282 of the 543 parliamentary seats in the election, more than the 272 majority needed to form an independent government without coalition partners, May 16 results showed. Global funds bought US$3.8 billion (RM12.2 billion) more Indian stocks and bonds than they sold this month through May 22, exchange data show.

Thailand’s baht rose to within 0.2 per cent of its level prior to yesterday’s coup on optimism a military takeover will bring stability after six months of political unrest. The currency gained as much as 0.4 per cent to 32.46 per dollar today, after trading at 32.40 immediately prior to the army takeover. It was little changed for the week.

Thai coup

“We view the current military coup as likely overall positive as it creates a more stable environment,” Mark Mobius, who oversees about US$50 billion as Templeton Emerging Markets Group’s executive chairman, said by e-mail. “The prognosis for Thailand is good given that direct foreign investors want stability in the country.”

Elsewhere in Asia this week, Taiwan’s dollar climbed 0.3 per cent to NT$30.117 against the greenback and the Philippine peso rose 0.3 per cent to 43.615. South Korea’s won was steady at 1,023.85, Indonesia’s rupiah declined 1.2 per cent to 11,556 and China’s yuan fell 0.06 per cent to 6.2372. The Vietnamese dong gained 0.1 per cent to 21,140. — Bloomberg